


Day 046

by Josh_the_Bard



Series: A Year in Kirkwall [46]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:09:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22743805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh_the_Bard/pseuds/Josh_the_Bard
Series: A Year in Kirkwall [46]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589257
Kudos: 1





	Day 046

Jansen woke up after an unusually restful sleep excited to face the day. Today was the day his very first lone had come due and, once he collected, he could officially call himself a successful moneylender and leave his job at the Bone Pit for good. He gave Wanda and Jansen jr. a kiss goodbye and went to work without the mortal terror he was used to. It felt very liberating. He felt like a new man.

After the morning’s gathering, Jansen didn’t see Porett all through the morning shift. Jansen told himself he was imagining things, that his friend wasn’t avoiding him. The Bone Pit was huge and on a given day it wasn’t unusual not to see someone for hours at a time. 

At lunch things got harder to ignore. Porett usually sat with Jansen and a few others from the South Reach, but today, he wasn’t there. Jansen went to find him, dreading the conversation they were about to have. Porett was studying alone, as far away from everyone as he could. 

“Hey there Porrett,” Jansen said. “What are ya doing all the way over here?”

“Oh hey Jansen,” Porett said. “I didn’t see you there.” There was a long awkward silence. Porett fidgeted but said nothing. 

“What is it?” Jansen asked.

“The merchant never showed up,” Porett explained. “He was supposed to be here a few days past but we’ve had no word. They say loads of people have been attacked on the roads so…”

“So I guess this means you don’t have my money,” Jansen said. Porett looked down at his uneaten food. 

“I’m real sorry, Jansen. I didn’t expect nothing like this to happen. I wish I had your money for you, honest. But I can’t pay you back. Not with coin I don’t have.”

“We’re mates,” Jansen said. “We can work something out. Maybe you can give me a bit of your wages until the debt’s settled I won’t even charge you any extra interest.”

“I barely make enough money to put food on the table as it is,” Porett said. “If you take anything out of me washes, me wife and I will starve.”

Jansen has no idea what to do. He needed that money back to keep his business going but he didn’t want to be like the moneylenders everyone hated. The ones who took everything from people and left them to freeze on the street. Especially not when the man he’d be leaving to freeze was his best friend. He knew he could, he had made sure that the contract was good and legal, if he went to the courts he could have them take everything Porett had and auction it off to settle the debt. As the foreman of the Bone Pit he could dock Porett’s pay until the debt was settled. But he had other loans out. If everyone else paid him back, with the agreed upon interest, it would more than make up for the loss of Porett’s loan. 

“I know times are hard,” Jansen said. “I will give you an extension.”

“What’s that?” Porett asked.

“It means you don’t have to pay me back yet. If things change then we’ll talk. But for now, don’t worry about it.”

“You’re a good man, Jansen,” Porett said. “One day I’ll do right by you.”

Jansen invited Porett back to the table with the others. His optimism for the future was dampened but there was no use worrying just yet. Things could still work out. He hopped.


End file.
